116 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.43 



Delicate Test for Strychnin, by H. E. Buc (p. 193) ; Preliminary Study of 

 Some of the Physirnl and Chemical Constants of Balsam Peni, by E. C Merrill 

 (pp. 194-197) ; Inorganic I'hosphorus in Animal Tissue, by F. M. Beegle (pp. 

 204-207) ; Investigations of the Kjeldahl Method for the Determination of 

 Nitrogen, by I. K. Phelps and H. W. Daudt (pp. 21S-220) ; and Notes on Us«^ of 

 Potassium I'ermauganate in Determining Nitrogen by llie Kjeldahl Method, by 

 W. Frear, W. Thomas, and H. D. Edmiston (pp. 220-224). 



METEOROLOGY. 



Sunshine in tlie United States, J. B. Kincer {U. S. Mo. Weather Rci\, JfS 

 (1920), No. 1. pp. J 2-17, pis. Jf, figs. Jf). — Two methods of presenting sunshine 

 data are iliscu.ssed, namely, in actual hours and tenths and in percentages of the 

 possible amount. "Charts and graphs are presented showing the mean solar 

 time of sunrise and sunset and the average length of the day, sunrise to sunset, 

 representing the possible maximum amount of sunshine for different seasons of 

 the year. Included is a series of charts showing for each month the average 

 amount of sunshine in hours per day ; also charts and graphs showing the sea- 

 sonal and annual distribution in percentages of the possible amount. Other 

 charts show the percentage of days clear, partly cloudy, and cloudy, while the 

 diurnal distribution of sunshine is also graphically shown. There is included 

 a table showing for each month and for the year the average percentage <»f the 

 possil>le amount of sunsliine for all stations where continuous automatic records 

 are made, which include practically all regiilar reporting stations. The basic 

 data are for the 20-year preiod from 1S95 to 1914, except that the percentages 

 •of the possible amount are for the 8-year period from 1905 to 1912." 



As regards geographic distribution of sunshine, it is shown that " in the 

 southeastern portions of the United States the spring months are the sunniest, 

 Avhile in nmch of the Ohio Valley and the Southwest .lune has a higher per- 

 centage of sunshine than any other month. July is the mouth of maximum in 

 nearly half of the Cfnuitry, including all northern districts. The smallest per- 

 centage of the possible amount in much of the interior, and in the central and 

 southern Pacilic coast districts and southern plateau States, occurs in .January, 

 which is also the case in the Middle Atlantic States; in most other districts 

 December is the cloudiest month. . . . 



" In the late fall and during most of the winter much cloudy weather pre- 

 vails in the Great Lakes and in western Montana, northern Idaho, and in 

 Washington. ... In extreme western Texas, most of New Mexico, and 

 Arizona, and in southern California the winters, on the other hand, are sunny. 

 ... In the Gulf States the amount of sunshine in winter ranges from an 

 average of 4 to 5 hours in December to 6 or 7 hours in February, the maximum 

 amount occurring in the Florida Peninsula. 



" With the advent of spring the amount of sunshine increases rapidly, espe- 

 cially in the more northern districts. . . . The maximum amount of sun- 

 shine during this season is received in the lower Colorado River Valley. . . . 

 By May, there is an average of 9 to 10 hours of sunshine daily in the in- 

 terior districts of the country. 



'• The increase in the amount of sunshine from winter to summer in tlie 

 northern portion of the United States is very pronounced. ... In the South 

 the increases are not so pronounced. . . . East of the Rocky Mountains 

 the geographic distribution of sunshine in summer is in general the reverse 

 of that in winter, the northern districts receiving more than the southern. 

 Much of the central and northern Great Plains usually receives in July 



